PIA holds forum on harnessing new media power to manage disaster Cristina Arzadon and Mirriam Aquino SAN FERNANDO CITY, Aug 8 (PIA) -- How do government communicators and members of the traditional media catch up with netizens? The Philippine Information Agency’s social media specialists showed the way. In a day-long seminar on harnessing the use of the social media on August 5, new media consultants Allan Capulong and Paolo Pangan said the explosion of new media platforms from the most popular sites such as facebook, twitter and blogspots have enabled users to communicate with one another on real time. Pangan said those who have not yet embraced the virtual world are left behind. “If we haven’t joined facebook, then we are missing out on what’s happening around the world. Communication exchanges are happening every second and everyone can communicate across various time zones in real time,” he said. The event also introduced participants to the use of new media in managing disasters. The PIA partnered with the Office of Civil Defense in the Ilocos in bringing the importance of the new media as a communication tool in disaster preparation and management. Melchito Castro, OCD regional director, said he started embracing the virtual world while he was on vacation abroad and had time to learn how facebook works. “I asked my nieces and nephews to orient me on the use of facebook,” Castro said who now maintains his FB account. Capulong, on the other hand, said government information officers and traditional media practitioners could maximize their audience reach by tapping social media. “Instead of the traditional press release which is text-heavy, we can package our information materials into info-graphs which are faster to grasp and attractive to readers,” he said. Capulong said social networking sites are best utilized for “infotainment” (or information and entertainment) which netizens buy as it brings a package of information, news, entertainment and an open line for feedbacks. The PIA’s director-general Jose Mari Oquiñena, who has fully embraced the social media platform as a powerful tool in the Agency’s communication program, also graced the event. Oquiñena said to most participants, the new media may be unfamiliar territory. “(But) we should learn how to use and maximize social communication in our daily activities to adapt to the changing times,” he said. Oquiñena also said even the most popular traditional media such as Time magazine has folded and now merely maintains its online edition. “Readers Digest is moving on-line, an indication that (it is) aware where the world is moving,” he said. Oquiñena noted that the PIA, as the government’s lead communication arm, is working beyond delivering the news to the public. “We want to package our communication program as information and not just mere news. Information is what happens before while news is what happens after,” he said. Oquiñena, at 43, is also known for his youth advocacy and the Bayani Challenge, a multi-sectoral partnership spearheaded by Pilipinas Natin, a movement that imbibes and cultivates the Filipino culture of caring, sharing and Bayanihan, which he heads. “Ultimately, what we are doing today is building a successor-generation which will deliver the things that we are doing today,” he said. “We ought to build a successor generation that will address our concerns by actively participating and interacting,” he added. (MCA/MPA/PIA1 La Union)
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 05:20:33 +0000